Watch the Lights

Martin Luther King Jr. was not an evangelical, but the Christian faith shaped a large part of his identity and strategy.

I ran across an interesting quotation about him that reveals how difficult it is to attempt social and political change on a religious foundation. That's not to say that we should never attempt anything like this, but we must realize that the underlying beliefs and motivation will often either be misunderstood or edited out by those to whom we speak.

Every preacher who has been around a while finds consolation in the promise of Isaiah that “the word shall not return void.” To preach well is success. I recall rallies when, in the course of his preaching, King would hold forth on the theological and moral foundations of the movement. The klieg lights and cameras shut down, only to be turned on again when he returned to specifically political or programmatic themes. “Watch the lights,” he commented. “They’re not interested in the most important parts.”

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